


Journey of a Thousand Miles

by TheatrePrincess



Category: Supernatural, Supernatural Novels - Various
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Friendship/Love, Hurt/Comfort, Male-Female Friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-26
Updated: 2014-05-26
Packaged: 2018-01-26 16:25:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1694813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheatrePrincess/pseuds/TheatrePrincess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." - LAO-TZU </p><p>All his life Dean Winchester has drifted. From East Coast to West Coast, school to school, job to job, girl to girl. Nothing has ever been permanent. When a friend asks for a favor, Dean's lifestyle of aimlessly wandering through life comes to a halt. His soon to be roommate, the rebellious and fresh out of High School, Jo Harvelle flicks the switch on Dean's life style and rewires it to her own satisfaction.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Journey of a Thousand Miles

**Author's Note:**

> “Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”  
> ― Desmond Tutu

 

All his life Dean Winchester has drifted. From East Coast to West Coast, school to school, job to job, girl to girl. Nothing has ever been permanent. When a friend asks for a favor, Dean’s lifestyle of aimlessly wandering through life comes to a halt. His soon to be roommate, the rebellious and fresh out of High School, Jo Harvelle flicks the switch on Dean's life and rewires it to her own satisfaction.

 

Wiping down the bar counter in preparation for happy hour Dean thought about New Haven, it was probably one of the nicer ‘ghetto’ towns in Connecticut, and the fact that he was twenty-one years old and he’d never stayed in a single town longer than six months.  
His dad, John Winchester, had the luxurious job of being a tech crewmember for bands. Whether it was setting up the soundboard at their gig or testing microphones, he was always there. He never had been on the road with a ‘cool’ band, mostly ones that nobody really knew, but they still dragged John (and Dean) around with them. Once one band went off tour John needed a new band to travel with to make any money. Dean recalled the countless occasions when they were left with no work for a month or more, and Dean saw more of the left over money go towards alcohol for his dad rather than the months rent. But every time John found a new band to travel with for the next few months they’d pack up their 67’ Chevy Impala and go wherever John was needed, never once taking Dean’s school into the consideration. Dean could on one hand how many times he’d been weeks away from finishing a grade in a specific town and they’d just pick up and move. He’d had been to twenty-six different schools growing up, and had countless minimum wage paying jobs that got him nowhere.  
Now in the year 2013 and yet Dean still was trying to maintain a less than decent life for himself with only a high school diploma and a few dollars of spending money to his name. John was still crisscrossing the country with the job that paid him less and less each year, while Dean was a bartender at Clippers, a seaside pub that was only half a mile away from his shitty one-bedroom apartment that he paid for solely on the money he made from tending bar. 

“Aye Dean!” Ash, one of Dean’s friends in New Haven, sat down at the bar across from him. 

“Hey Ash, the usual?” Dean said tossing the rag he was using under the bar. 

“Yeah man, so hey here’s a question for ya, you’d consider us to be pretty good friends huh?” Dean slid an open Budweiser across the bar to Ash. 

“Longest lasting friendship I’ve had in a while I guess you could say.” 

“I need a favor, man.” Ash scanned Dean’s face before taking a swig of his beer. 

“Sorry Ash, money is a no-go for me right now. I’ve got about three dimes to my name.” 

“This wont cost money.” 

“Alright, try me.” 

“So my parents are pretty anal and—“ 

“Ash this doesn’t really sound like something we should be discussing—” 

“Anal as in strict, jackass. Anyways, my sister, Jo, is kind of the exact opposite of our parents. She’s eighteen, fresh out of high school and has a record that doesn’t exactly fill my parents expectations, actually she’s well below their expectations. Long story short they’ve basically disowned her after he most recent stunt-- smoking pot and getting caught.” 

“I don’t see how I play into this—” Dean began. 

“My mom is sending her out here within the next week with the idea of her coming to live with me though I explained to her she can’t live with me in a dorm at Yale. I only have a few months left before I go back and take on my own apartment. After my mom took this into consideration, she bargained that she’d give Jo nine hundred bucks and I’d help her find a place to stay until I can let her stay with me. 

“Sweet Jesus Ash, you want me to let your sister stay with me. I have a one bedroom—” 

“Dean, she’s really not that bad. You’re the only guy I really trust around here. This is my baby sister and I don’t know how I can finish this semester with her wandering around New Haven in a shelter, she can’t afford anything with nine hundred dollars alone. She just needs a place to get on her feet and save a little money, and then by May I can take her.” 

“You do realize I’d be risking my own apartment trying to sneak in another resident in past my landlord—” Dean said, Ash clutched the neck of his beer in anticipation. 

“Alright Ash, let me think through this for a day or two and I’ll get back to you.” 

“Thanks man, I really appreciate it.” Ash said, clapping Dean on the shoulder. 

 

Dean’s shift ended around one in the morning. The all to familiar stench of booze and bar food clung to his clothes. The brisk winter air nipped at his skin as he began his walk home. Most people would take their car to work, but Dean figured it’s not too far of a walk and what’s the point of wasting the gas everyday. He needed that gas to get places that were too far for him to walk. 

Thick snowflakes began falling halfway through his journey home and the idea of having two people in his apartment became more appealing. The extra money for the rent meant maybe he’d actually be able to afford driving his car to work, hell or even buying a hat or gloves for Christ sake. 

When Dean finally got to the door of his apartment he sighed in relief. Shoving the key in the lock with his hands shaking from the cold was difficult which only made him dream of a hot shower. Pushing open his apartment door he was met with the same temperature it was outside and a note that had been slid under the door. 

"Your rent wasn’t paid in full this month; we shut off your heat. Sorry for the inconvenience."

“Fucking shit.” Dean cursed, slamming the door behind him. Dean reached into his jacket and pulled out his phone. His numb fingers dialed Ash’s number. He didn’t give a fuck if he woke him up right now. 

“Dean?” Ash said, his voice thick. 

“Alright Ash your sister can stay with me- but I’m crashing at your place tonight. My heat’s off and I can’t get a hold of the douchebag landlord until morning.”


End file.
